Haunting Songs
 

What are your favorite songs that seem "haunting" to you? This is, of course, up to interpretation, but I LOVE haunting music of any kind and wanted some suggestions.

Some examples:

"Hurt" - Johnny Cash
"Hey You" - Pink Floyd
"Moonlight Sonata" - Beethoven
"The Sounds of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Wonderwall" - Ryan Adams
"Comptine d'un Autre" - Yann Tiersen
"Mad World" - Gary Jules
"Caresse sur l'ocean" - Les Choristes
"Nights in White Satin" - Moody Blues

Why by Annie Lennox.

Streets of Philadelphia by the boss.

I have to generally skip these when they come on randomly on the iPod. They reduce me to tears 9 times outta 10.

A couple of songs that give me that vibe...

Dylan and Hendrix's versions of All Along The Watchtower.

Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe.

Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
Rammstein - Mutter
Evanescence - Hello
Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole
The Doors - The End
Billie Holiday - Gloomy Sunday
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Lucinda Williams - Pineola
Enya - May It Be
Annie Lennox - Into the West
Dave Matthews - Some Devil (I usually can't stand him but this song is greatness)

My list is completely manic... but then again, so am I! :p

Sting: Shape Of My Heart
Moody Blues: Nights In White Satin
Al Stewart: Year Of The Cat
Fleetwood Mac: Prove Your Love
Sublime: Summertime
Eagles: Pretty Maids All In A Row
Amy Winehouse: Wake Up Alone
Doors: Crystal Ship
Sheryl Crow: Redemption Day
Madonna: Inside Of Me
Helen Stellar: Io
Brookville: Life In The Shade
Joseph Arthur: A Smile That Explodes
Home Video: Pidpunk
Melody Gardot: Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind
Dire Straits: Brothers In Arms

There's only like 10 million I'm forgetting... :D

You guys are awesome. I'm on a downloading rampage.

PS Jeff Buckley is one of the best things to happen to music ever. If any of you don't have Grace, fix that NOW.

Debbie Harry's cover of Wild Horses

Hide and Seek-Imogen Heap.

Mick

Oh, I forgot-- "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant.

"You better shut your mouth
and hold your breath
You kiss me now
and you catch your death"

Wild Horses-The Sundays
Alone Again Naturally-Gilbert O'Sullivan
Boadicea-Enya
Diamonds and Rust-Joan Baez
On Earth-The Sundays
Send In The Clowns-Judy Collins
Vincent-Don McLean
Castles in The Air- Don McLean
The Lady in Red-Chris DeBurgh
Haunted-The Moody Blues

Vincent merits special attention Danielle. This, to me, is the greatest piece of rock and roll poetry ever written. I think you will find this song truly stunning!

That was really cool! Are you familiar with The Sundays version of this song?

Placebo-Narcoleptic
Placebo-Ask for Answers
Placebo-Lady of the Flowers
Placebo-Centrefolds
Madonna-I Want You
Jewel-Grey Matter
The Killers-Andy You're a Star
The Smiths-Asleep
Janet Jackson-Anything

Hmm...
 

"It's Only Heaven" - Hurricane
"My Immortal" - Evanescence
"It Can't Rain All the Time" - Jane Siberry
"Isle of the Dead, Op. 29" - Sergei Rachmaninoff
"Goodbye Blue Sky" - Pink Floyd
"When the Crowds are Gone" - Savatage

and of course "Rain (Female Vocal Version)" by Mai Yamane from the Cowboy Bebop OST:

Run -- Snow Patrol
Blue -- Joni Mitchell
Into My Arms -- Nick Cave
Dante's Prayer -- Loreena McKennitt
Rain -- Patty Griffin

All of Peter Gabriel (1980)
Love/Alone Again Or
My Morning Jacket/Golden
Donovan/Hurdy Gurdy Man
Genesis/Back In NYC (a song that Jeff Buckley covered, Dani)

And, last but not least, Police/Mother :P

Jefferson Airplane White Rabbit

"End of the Run" - Debbie Harry
"Angel on the Balcony" - Blondie


I'll think of more later. :)

Tori Amos- Winter
Stevie Nicks- Frustrated Love

The Doors - The End

Oh End Of The Run definitely!! The spoken parts send chills down my spine.

I've never found Angels On The Balcony hauting as such, but it's by far the best track on Autoamerican :p

As well as Debbie's Wild Horses cover, I have a list now :lol:

• Fade Away And Radiate - Blondie
• As The World Falls Down - David Bowie
• (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
• Wave - Patti Smith

And the ahh's at the beginning of Prove Your Love. So beautiful and lingering.

I really love those, AOTB is my favorite off Autoamerican. :D

Neko Case- Furnace Room Lullaby

Ever since watching the movie "The Gift", I have loved this song and film. So haunting.

There are so many songs I consider "haunting" that I love... Here are a few lesser-known ones, and I will likely share some more of my favorites as soon as I can think of them... ;p

"Let It Go" - Grace Slick - this track takes time to grow on you - but it really is an awesome song (around the 3:00 mark, things get REALLY interesting!!)
"Garden Of Man" - Grace Slick - the last track from her 1980 solo album Dreams - an excellent album!

Sissel Kyrkjebø is a Norwegian singer who probably has the most beautiful soprano voice I have ever heard. If you have ever seen James Cameron's Titanic, you have heard her voice as she is the one doing the vocalizations throughout the soundtrack. Most of her music falls into the categories of pop/classical/easy listening/folk:

"Dusk" - Sissel - 1st song I thought of when I read the initial post - lovely, beautiful, haunting - gives me goosebumps
"She Walks In Beauty" - Sissel - probably even more haunting than the last, but also very lovely - this one is from the Vanity Fair soundtrack

Porcupine Tree is a modern prog-rock band formed by Steven Wilson:

"Lips of Ashes" - Porcupine Tree - nice layered harmonies, and like most of their stuff, very nice production
"Buying New Soul" - Porcupine Tree - very haunting keyboard riff starts this piece out, and it's really an interesting song
"Russia On Ice" - Porcupine Tree - some haunting sections, some beautiful sections, some not-so-beautiful sections - overall an interesting piece of prog-rock

Hope some of you will enjoy them!

Broken Wing - John Mayall

I'll also add that I find the entire Lieutenant Kije suite (Prokofiev) rather haunting.

Another place you can find some beautiful & haunting melodies is in the "Dragon Quest" series in the form of symphonic suites, composed by Japanese composer Koichi Sugiyama. The DQ series was/is a popular game series in Japan, but was much less successful internationally, being known as "Dragon Warrior"... however the music is also legendary in Japan. Drawing from the styles of composers like Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, J.S. Bach, Mozart and even John Williams in addition to Japanese contemporaries, Sugiyama has created soundtracks to 9 games so far in the series (spanning 25 years). Once you hear some of the music that has come from this series (if you enjoy orchestral music), I think you'll understand why it is so loved by those who are familiar with it.

Here are a few of my favorite haunting melodies from the series:

"Requiem" - Dragon Quest II - a very sad, but pretty melody
"Heavenly Flight" - Dragon Quest III - one of the best pieces from the entire series IMO - gorgeous melody
"Distant Memories" - Dragon Quest III - the cello sings in this piece; another sad melody that exudes a sense of longing
"Homeland / Wagon Wheel's March" - Dragon Quest IV - I love pieces that make you feel like you're traveling and this is one of them, both in the melody of the first section and then in the insistent march rhythm of the second section
"Battle For The Glory" - Dragon Quest IV - grand and epic, a feeling of danger is pervasive here - the later section is the most haunting part - could easily be something out of a film soundtrack
"Magic Carpet / Ocean" - Dragon Quest V - although there are only a few minor chords in this piece, there is a hauntingly beautiful melody here
"Monsters In The Dungeon /Tower Of Death / Dark World" - Dragon Quest V - an unusual but interesting melody - despite being somewhat lively, still haunting
"Noble Requiem / Saint" - Dragon Quest V - a lovely piece - pretty, but very dark in tone
"At The Palace" - Dragon Quest VI - a very Baroque arrangement here
"Ocean Waves" - Dragon Quest VI - another beautiful piece with a unique melody

There are many other really nice pieces from the series... awesome character themes, great town & castle themes, some exciting battle music, etc. If you like what you hear here, I encourage you to check out the symphonic suites to all the Dragon Quest games... a lot of which you can find on YouTube. You just have to ignore the original game soundtrack, which is not nearly as interesting to listen to on its own (although fun to compare to the symphonic versions!)

You grabbed my attention with this thread. I'm on a Florence and the Machine kick and this thread is the perfect place to recommend a few of her songs.

Florence and the Machine songs:
1. I'm Not Calling You a Liar
2. Cosmic Love
3. My Boy Builds Coffins

Others;
1. Oh Father- Madonna
2. Shadowboxer- Fiona Apple
3. We Three- Patti Smith

You forgot "Howl" and "Heavy In Your Arms"! the most haunting song by Florence!

I ADORE her. "My Boy Builds Coffins" is on my haunting playlist, along with the other two I posted :)

"Asleep" by The Smiths

K's Choice - Virgin State Of Mind
Sinead O'Connor - Troy
The Veils - Lavinia (album version!)
Amanda Marshall - Beautiful Goodbye
Bjork - Hyperballad
Hurts - Wonderful Life
Metallica - Mama Said
Manic Street Preachers - The Everlasting

"Song to the Siren" - This Mortal Coil

"East Hastings" - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - This was in the 28 Days Later soundtrack. Original composition is 18 minutes long, linked version is shorter, due to YouTube time constraints. Film edit version here. GY!BE is bomb, y'all. Bomb.

"Wonderful Life" - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

"I Am Stretched on Your Grave" - Dead Can Dance version of a 17th century Irish poem.

"Strange Fruit" - Billie Holiday - linked version is a live version, and stunning.

"The Heart Asks Pleasure First" - Michael Nyman, from The Piano soundtrack/score.

"Something I Can Never Have" - Nine Inch Nails

"Man on Fire End Theme" - Lisa Gerrard

"All Mine" - Portishead

Hmmmm...I've always been partial to "T-Birds". Need to update my Blondie collection eventually...I still have the CD with NO bonus tracks. I see that they've added the long version of "Call Me" & "Rapture" to the album.

I have enjoyed these, thanks.

Suzy & Jeffrey is also on the CD version. I think it's only a few $ on Amazon. Mine was about £4, I think.

"Leif Erikson" - Interpol

I hate this thread for making me listen to Madonna. The only thing I hate more than her music and her general "Madonna-ness" is her acting. She couldn't act her way through one of those really bad made for tv movies that can't even be bothered to dub it half decently.

Yep, Call Me long version, Rapture disco mix and S&J are on the 2001 remaster. :D

Oh you're welcome! Glad you like them... :thumbsup:

well, technically, you didn't have to listen. my guiltypleasure movie is 'who's that girl' :thumbsup:

thanks for posting links to those that did
cool listening to new music with one click.

Really? I guess it's the imagery that comes to mind when I listen to it. Yes...that album is amazing and one my favorites!